8 February
Okay, so I'm now, as I write this, two days behind.
I worked until midnight on Wednesday and Thursday night, getting to bed after 2a both nights, the alarm going off at 8.30a and my hitting snooze for an hour, which certainly explains how I managed to get two days behind, but then this morning, I felt like Kristen in my efforts to do anything rather than write an entry.
I mean, my God, I sent out a weekly newsletter of this journal (to friends without time to read this on a daily basis, or with email but no web access), and I'm all the way behind to October, so it's not as though it was particularly pressing to do this morning.
And then I had to come to work. And now it's 10.20p and I'm still at work, and I'm pretending that it's Thursday. So...let it be Thursday!
And here it is, Thursday. And I'm gonna talk about Tuesday.
Tuesday night, after work, I decided that I hadn't seen a movie since I was home at Christmas, and I was just about ready to start going again. So I got to the theatre and there was nothing playing anywhere near the time I was there, so I just saw O Brother Where Art Thou again.
Jette, see the fucking movie, for God's sake. Stop watching Sesame Street for like four seconds and get your ass out of the house and see my new obsession!
This is the third time I have seen it, and I paid $9.50 even though I have it on DVD from being on the SAG Nominating Committee. And I watched it on DVD since seeing it in the theatre. And it's playing as I write this.
The more I see it, the more I agree with Columbine that Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly has a stick up his ass. Honestly, I could see someone not loving it as I do (barely) but I certainly cannot see anyone thinking that this film is the worst film in a year that included the movie Bait, not to mention Battlefield Earth.
The more I see it, the more impressed I am with the performances, particularly George Clooney and Tim Blake Nelson. George is always more of an actor than a handsome movie star is expected to be, as was Clark Gable, whom George is doing a cracking good impression of, though I don't think that Clark Gable would ever have be ego-free enough to play a character who is as bad a fighter as Ulysses Everett McGill is.
Tim Blake Nelson just rocks my world as well. It's such a sweet performance, and very simple in a way that you don't notice exactly how good it is without multiple viewings. It just doesn't call attention to itself, but is absolutely full and true in every way. Where did this guy come from? According to the IMDB, one of his major roles previous to this was a cockroach in Joe's Apartment. I guess that everyone has to start somewhere.
John Tuturro's performance, on the other hand, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I usually like him, but he's all surface in a way that George and Tim are not, the are layered, which means that they are much funnier. John is playing the laughs every second, which makes him much less funny. Strange how that works out. His speech about wanting to open a restaurant, though, is the only really good part of his performance, the only bit worthy of his talent, which is large, even though he never managed to learn that comedy needs as full a character as drama does.
When it comes right down to it, though, the best thing, the thing that makes this movie great is all those faces, those wonderful people playing the smaller roles. Down to the extras, almost everyone looks period. I love the guy who plays Pete's cousin Wash, and the woman in the bank who says "Baby Face", and the terrifying sheriff in the sunglasses, and Steven Root as the radio station guy.
It's just the kind of movie that fills my heart with such joy that I was happy to pay $9.50 to see it again. Hell, consider the lilies of the goddamn field!
"Mind it we join you, old timer?"
"Jine me, m'son, jine me."
"You work for the railroad, Grampa?"
"I work for no man."
"Got a name, do ya?"
"I have no name."
"Well, that right there may be the reason that you've had difficulty finding gainful employment..."
Today's horoscope:
You can finally see over the top of that obstacle you've been confronting. You're almost there!
One year ago today:
One night of no rehearsal and I get all idle and staring into space. Or maybe that's my natural state, and I've just forgotten.
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Last Updated Sun 11 February 01:11:09 2001